Passiflora rosacea | The Italian Collection of Maurizio Vecchia

Passiflora rosacea, information, classification, temperatures. etymology of Passiflora rosacea. Discover the Italian Passiflora Collection by Maurizio Vecchia.

Passiflora rosacea | The Italian Collection of Maurizio Vecchia

Systematics (J. Macdougal et al., 2004)

SUBGENUS: passiflora
SUPERSECTION: stipulata
SECTION: granadillastrum


GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OR ORIGIN:

Eastern Peru to western Bolivia, Amazon basin of Brazil above 2,500 m altitude. This species is cultivated in Europe under the name P. nephrodes. Yero Kuethe, a taxonomist, published that it is actually a new species, different from the true P. nephrodes.


MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: 10 °C


IDEAL MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: 15 °C


SYNONYMS:

P. menispermifolia var. rosea


ETYMOLOGY:

Denomination attributed by Yero Kuethe (2023) for the intense pink color of its flowers.


PHOTOGALLERY:


DESCRIPTION:

For many years now it has been possible to grow this hairy passion flower, P. rosacea, with bizarre dark pink flowers also sold in catalogs as P. menispermifolia var. rosea. Until the end of the 1980s it was in fact unavailable in Europe and, although it is interesting and decorative. It is currently available from nurserymen as P. nephrodes. However, Yero Kuethe recognized it as a new species different from the true P. nephrodes.

It grows decisively and blooms generously. It does not present particular cultivation problems and is also adaptable to growing in multipurpose soil in pots with a diameter of about 18-20 cm.

Its stems are sub-angular in cross-section. The leaves, from 6 to 13 cm long and 5 to 9 cm wide, are trilobate, with a prevalence, in length, of the acute lanceolate-shaped central lobe. The smaller lateral lobes have a deltoid shape.

The always frequent flowers have a diameter of about 8 cm. The sepals, fitted with a terminal spike, and the deep pink petals, are slightly retroflexed. The corona is sparse. It consists of a few series of filaments placed in a radial pattern, dark purple at the base and fading to white towards the apex, with alternating light and dark bands.

The ovary, unlike the related species, P. menispermifolia and P. hastata, is extremely hairy like the rest of the plant.

The ovoid fruit, green in colour, has a diameter of about 4 cm and a length of about 6 cm.

It is found in eastern Peru, western Bolivia and the Amazon region of Brazil, even at altitudes of around 2500 metres.

I reasonably believe that it may be relatively hardy (7-8°C). It should be tried out in the milder Italian climatic zones to check its adaptability.

It propagates easily from cuttings, a method that ensures plants that bloom promptly, even when they are small in size (50-60 cm in height).